tigertail777 put a set of the toe photos on the infirmary page under Ohana. If you suspect an infection go to a clinic and have it checked, please. I've seen too many minor toe infections move into the bone (osteomylitis)and I don't think you would want to do an amputation on your own.

You have done a wonderful painting with a technique I've never mastered. You certainly have mastered it. I think it is beautiful and interesting. You are very good.

Cheers and may your toe heal for the new year, Wendy
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I am almost done with the Puffa Puffa parody, just a few more touch ups and then trying to do some screen captures of the videos of the old commercials on youtube to see if I can get a glimpse of the sides to get them painted. Plus I want to make and glue on wood cereal box "flaps" on the top of the box to give the impression of it being an open box of cereal.

I have had more time to work on this because my job I had didn't work out. I realize now after much contemplation that all the jobs I have ever had ended in much the same way; because I had great difficulty grasping concepts with a lot of steps, with numbers, or steps that vary. Leading me to look at the elephant in the room that has been staring at me for years. I am quite positive now I have some kind of learning disability. I suppose the first clue really should have been the fact I can't tell time on a regular clock, or read a ruler properly because the numbers get mixed up in my head. But all my life I have told my friends and family that I knew something was wrong, and they always would reassure me that everyone goes through this kind of thing, there is nothing wrong you will learn it. I suppose it is the stubborn mix of German and Irish in my family that we don't do anything about this kind of thing until it is quite plain we have no other recourse. Well, frankly I am tired of feeling like an idiot with each job I get because my brain does not go directly from point A to point B, but rather takes the scenic route. As an artist it is useful to jumble up unrelated objects and do out of the box sort of thinking, but when it comes to real life I am afraid that has proven to be a major stumbling block because my brain can't seem to shut off that sort of thinking and applies it to everything I see or do. In short, I seem to perceive and process things like no one else and when I need to do it in the normal way I cannot. I have lost dozens of jobs because of this despite being polite, punctual, easy to get along with, and communicative...everything from cashier to newspaper carrier. My brain is very slow in comprehending things, but once I have a routine down I can do it. In order to have and keep a job I need to know how to deal with this. I am looking into getting official testing done for learning disabilities as my first step.

I am telling you all of this because I consider many of you a sort of family, and to let you know why it takes so long for me to post things, and why it may get even longer. I need to have some kind of income I can rely on, and it is painfully obvious I am not good enough to make a living off of my art after trying to freelance as a graphic designer and illustrator for a couple years now (again the big stumbling block there has been my inability to understand a lot of computer software required for the work. In college I actually maxed out the number of tutors they would allow me to have per month, as a result I really don't think I got as much out of my degree as I should have.) If nothing else good came out of my latest job, it is the fact that I know I need to seek help to work with my brain and how it does things, the elephant in the room can no longer be ignored.

Now that I have that off my chest, on with the show...

Just a few more minor details such as the one hand, and the flower in her hair and I think (aside from the sides and above mentioned flaps) I will be done. This time I just went with straight acrylics and skipped the oils, which I think gives it that more printed graphic design look of a real cereal box. I even made a few elements slightly off register to mimic the cheap printing techniques that would have been used. Part of me wishes I could have actually shown the screen tone dots, but I suppose for a painting that would have been carrying things too far. The printed look is also why I added the white hi-lights to the wakine, normally for a painting I would not do that but it perfectly copies what would have to have been done in printing to make the product stand out on the shelf, and keep the colors separated enough to prevent trapping etc. I am not sure if the cardboard used in cereal boxes has a perfectly white printing side (maybe now they can do that, but I somehow doubt in the 50's/60's they could do it) so I am betting that if they wanted stark white in the design it would call for another plate with white ink, thus adding to the cost because it would no longer be four color printing. Plus the vivid green background would probably be a spot ink. I know they spent more than the usual often times in printing cereal boxes (and still do), so it is possible they could have done all those things and then saved some money by printing less colors on the back/sides. I don't know, but these are all things I contemplate when working on projects like this; exactly how it was done and what would be outside the bounds of what was conceivable. It makes for a more convincing final piece I think, and is naturally how my brain tends to work.

Now for a little bit of a close up on the shocked wahine..

It may or may not show, but I loosely based her pose on an old Betty Page photo I ran across in which Betty shows a playfully shocked pose when a freshly caught fish is pushed towards her. Her hair is also somewhat similar to Betty's, but also based on other time period "do's". I had to take a little artistic license with some of the coloring to darken the volcano background to make her stand out, which at first I was opposed to, because I really do not think they would have printed anything that dark for the time period, but as an overall painting it seems to work so begrudgingly I have come to like it.

Sorry for all the rambling about printing, as I said it's how my brain works: I have to understand all the steps of how something is done in order to closely examine the details and replicate them. I guess it will give you a bit of a peek into my jumbled thought processes.

Dear tigertail777, as I was reading about your specific symptoms I was thinking how close they resemble what I've read of dyslexia. But then as I read your post and I see how well you describe what goes on with you and the fact you can type it out makes me think that maybe its not that either. I for one am super happy that you are seeking professional advice. The saying is that knowledge is power and having a diagnosis will set you on the right path to finding help in working around or through these problems. My heart goes out to you, never give up.

Your cereal box is wonderful and very fun to look at. You are very talented. I find a lot of joy in creating art and I see that you do too. So keep it up and best wishes for success, Wendy
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VaVaVoom!!! Very nice Tiger. I like the idea of the open boxtop - I have always loved mixed media paintings with 3D elements added to them. Infinity ounces!

I'm sure that was a somewhat painful self-introspective, hang in there. The brain is a wonderfully complex marvel but they don't always work the same. Different people learn different ways, you will find the way that works for you. Like in so many things, admitting there is a problem is the first step to fixing it. Good luck in your journey.
_________________When you hurry through life, you just get to the end faster.
Pirate Ship Tree House

tigertail......Piuffa Puffa is lookin SPANKIN!
Your dedication and enthusiasm are infectious!
As for your dyslexic-style thing....Hang tough!
One thing an artist is,it's resourceful!
Like Mike said,you will find YOUR way to shine and function!
If it weren't for all the "outside world" helpers in my life
nothing sold would get sent off,and i wouldn't have groceries
or clean clothes...to name just a few things...

There's a great book that may inspire and enlight you
it's called "Churchill's Black Dog and Kafka's Mice"by Anthony Storr
and it shows how,despite their shortcomings (Churchill-Depression/Kafka-existential insecurity/Newton-a self-punishing paranoid hypochondriac) these men were able to utilize these obstacles and achieve something great...
In fact,Storr argues that without these problems,they may have never contributed to History in the way that they did...

check it out-it may give you some encouragement...
there's other books out there that deal with Artists and Writers specifically
and they refer to a condition called cyclothymia,that a lot of creative types possess...

Being born this way isn't always a Pleasure Cruise,butthen again,not many folks are capable of bringing to life the things that we do...
Hang tough Art Brother,and avoid those meds!
wishing you well on the next phase of your development!

Thanks guys for the encouragement and I'm sorry I have not put anything new up. Right now I have to admit my self esteem is pretty much in the toilet after what happened with my job. I had the Irlen testing done, and it seems I am a very good candidate for getting the special lens filters because I didn't realize it till now (I frankly thought it was normal) that it was abnormal when reading for letters to have glowing edges and to vibrate among other things. Trouble is those special glasses are $500.00 and there is no guarantee how much they will help. So needless to say I have been pounding the pavement for work again. I have done some non-tiki art just to scratch the art itch, and I will probably do some minor tiki stuff in a bit... but right now (and I really hate to sound so stupid about this) I am quite depressed. I know its one of those "darkest before the light" sort of things, but it is difficult dealing with it right now. So pardon the lack of poly pop/tiki whilst I try to get my shattered inner ego back in order. There will be new work soon I promise, even if it's just some small thing.

I know that when one is down or sick, it is difficult to get some art down on paper. However, I've found that sometimes sitting somewhere, like a cafe or something and sketching/drawing people or the things around you actually can lift the spririt! Best of luck!

Hi Tiger, I'm sure we all wish we could give you a big hug and a smile. You have a vision glitch. It's so good to have a diagnosis. Even if there isn't a fix today there could be one tomorrow. MadDogMike is smart to say go to the site and read up.

Pounding the pavement is better than sitting home because you will meet people and the right person is out there someplace. When you are home just start to doodle and then an idea will pop into your head and off you will go into your next project tiki or not. You are a fine artist.

It's good to be in motion to cure depression. Remember it's a chemical imbalance triggered by circumstance and drinking enough water will help clean it out.

Just a quick update because I am sure by now you all think Tigertail fell off the face of the damned earth LOL. I have a new job doing janitorial at nights so will have a bit of income coming in, and I have done a major re-arrangement of my bedroom (and got rid of a lot of stuff) to install a mini art studio. I just got my new glass top drafting table put together and into the closet (I removed the closet doors to give me a little cubby hole to put the drafting table into). So, once the dust settles I will be back to making some Poly Pop art goodness.

T777...you write very well and obviously have a lot of insight into yourself. That is more than many people have so feel proud to have that. As a nurse and an educator I know there are ways to be evaluated and obtain help with LD. I don't know if this website will help, but if you are already getting some help that is great.
http://www.ncld.org/college-aamp-work/in-the-workplace

Your artwork is great...love the concepts and the energy you have. Keep up the great work!!!

Been a while... first off thanks VampiressRN for taking the time to post and your thoughtful words.

Now I know, I know it aint Tiki yet, and I am sorry but I wanted you to see the tiger hasn't been an artist SOB and not done any more art lately.

This latest piece has got to be the most insanely detailed thing I have ever done: a three tier diorama of Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" for a art guild library show. I found an old curio cabinet and went to down packing it in with details. Most of it is sculpey sculptures, but there are other elements as well: the characters in the scenes are paper cut outs and the middle scene has real quartz crystals. The whole shebang is lit up inside with those tiny LED fairy lights, which is supposed to give the impression that the characters have Rumkopf coil lamps like in the book by positioning the lights behind frosted paper.The side outer shelves have artifacts pertaining to the book like dinosaur bones, an empty water bottle, a stone with ancient Icelandic writing on it, and lots of mushrooms because in the book they find a forest of giant mushrooms. Here is a overall view of the entire piece: http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee200/tigertail777/SAM_0420.jpg

A semi decent shot of the middle tier scene, where the characters discover a long passage of cave crystals. I used real quartz crystals because I wanted the shine and interplay of light reflection and refraction once I installed the LED lights. Unfortunately some of the beauty of it is blocked out by the long white shelf of stalagmites behind the Professor. I had to do this to hide the gaudy looking wires.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee200/tigertail777/SAM_0418.jpg

The best executed scene I think is this one; the characters are on a raft trying to cross a large sea of water they find close to the center of the earth. The sea is very turbulent due to the strange electrical phenomena present in the vast cave space, and there are several dinosaur creatures that rise out of the depths such as this Pleiosaur. I stumbled on the idea accidentally of pouring E-6000 quick dry glue down him to look like water.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee200/tigertail777/SAM_0423.jpg

A close up of the right hand open shelves: the top is a sculpted Rumkopf coil lamp and battery pack, the next one down is the ancient stone with the name "Arne Saknussem" in old Icelandic chiseled into it (he was the original person to journey to the center of the earth in the book, and left behind details of how to replicate his journey in a small piece of manuscript. This tiny manuscript is written backwards so people during his time don't accuse him of heresy and kill him, it is the sort of scrolled parchment seen being held by the golden fossil bones in the first picture. The next part is more mushrooms.
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee200/tigertail777/SAM_0424.jpg

It's all very crazy I know, but "Journey to the Center of the Earth" is my favorite book, so I wanted to do it some justice. Hope you all pardon my non-tiki post I will try to get something tiki done soon to get things back on track, but hopefully you enjoy this as well.